The first general elections to be held in Iraq following the U.S. occupation took place as scheduled on Jan. 30, 2005. While the Kurdish and Shiʿite populations voted massively in their areas of concentration, Sunni Arabs generally stayed home, either because of intimidation by insurgents or because they were boycotting the election. In the view of many Sunni, the elections were illegal, since they took place under foreign occupation. The vote produced a transitional National Assembly in which the Shiʿite religious parties won 51% of the seats, the Kurdish alliance claimed 27%, and the secular Shiʿite list led by Prime Minister Ayad Allawi took 14%. Only 16 of the 275 Assembly members elected were Sunni. On April 6 the new parliament elected Jalal Talabani, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, as the new Iraqi president. Ibrahim al-Jaafari, head of the Islamic Daʿwah Party, was chosen as prime minister. Jaafari was sworn in, along with the cabinet he selected, on May 3.

The main task of the transitional parliament was to write a permanent constitution for Iraq by mid-August. To this end a constitutional committee of 55 members was selected from the parliament. Since the majority of its members were either Shiʿites or Kurds, the Sunni protested that their representation was insufficient. To rectify this problem, some Sunni were added, but they were able to join the committee only after its work was well under way. The committee had difficulty meeting its schedule, but a draft was finally approved by the National Assembly, and it was submitted to a popular referendum on October 15.

The draft constitution was narrowly approved. A two-thirds rejection in three separate provinces was required for defeat. Two of Iraq’s 18 provinces did reject the document by a two-thirds vote, while a simple majority rejected it in a third province. In contrast to the January elections for the parliament, there was substantial Sunni participation in the referendum, and it was mainly the Sunni-dominated provinces that voted “no.” The new Iraqi constitution called for a federated state in Iraq with a weak central government. Many of the details, which were left vague or unfinished, were to be filled in after a permanent National Assembly was elected on December 15. Preparations for the December elections started immediately after the referendum. Some 228 candidates or entities were registered to run. This time a number of Sunni parties and candidates decided to compete. Iraqis voted along ethnic and sectarian lines. The religiously oriented Shiʿite bloc won a large plurality but fell short of a majority. They were followed by Sunni and Kurdish blocs. This result guaranteed that Iraq’s next government would be a coalition.

During the year there was a noticeable deterioration of public services, including electricity, clean water, and garbage collection. As a result of acts of sabotage, especially against pipelines and oil facilities, oil exports were disrupted. Among males, unemployment reached 50–60%; the rate was even higher among women. Random acts of kidnapping, assassination, and murder ravaged areas of the country. University professors, medical doctors, and other members of the Iraqi elite were targeted, and many left the country. Militias belonging to political parties or individuals were active and visible in policing certain areas. Corruption reportedly expanded among government officials at all levels despite repeated promises by the Iraqi government to investigate and punish offenses.

A rising tide of tensions and hostilities became apparent between the Shiʿite and Sunni communities. There were increasing reports of killings, kidnappings, and reprisals between members of these two communities, reportedly reaching tens of thousands of victims. These attacks were encouraged by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, head of the al-Qaeda terrorist network in Iraq. He declared war against the Shiʿites, accusing them of being “infidels” and of cooperating with the American “occupiers.”

Insurgents and terrorist groups in Iraq—foreign terrorists, Iraqi nationalists, and loyalists to deposed Iraqi president Saddam Hussein—attacked both Iraqis and U.S. troops. Their attacks took many forms—armed street fights, suicide bombings, roadside bombs, and car bombings. In particular, insurgents aimed attacks at police stations, police and military recruiting centres, U.S. forces and facilities, and other public places such as markets and even mosques. In one tragic case, on August 31—after rumours spread of a terrorist attack—some 1,000 Shiʿite pilgrims in Baghdad on their way to visit a holy shrine died in a stampede as they crossed a bridge over the Tigris River. Attacks were also aimed at foreign diplomats working in Iraq; Ihab al-Sharif, the Egyptian envoy to Baghdad, was kidnapped on July 2 and executed five days later.

At least half of all attacks occurred in four Sunni-dominated provinces—Anbar, Salah al-Din, Nineveh, and Baghdad. Iraq’s borders, especially with neighbouring Syria, were only lightly guarded, and hundreds of fighters crossed to join the Iraqi insurgents. The new Iraqi government, eager to restore law and order, began increasing the number of police and armed forces. In an effort to assuage Sunni discontent, the government on November 2 called junior officers in Saddam’s disbanded army back into service, openly canceling a U.S. directive issued in 2003. The trial of Saddam and of a number of his aides officially began on October 19. The prosecution started with the case of the 1982 massacre of 143 people in the village of Dujail, which Saddam allegedly ordered after an attempt on his life was made. His trial was expected to take several months.

An Arab League meeting aimed at national reconciliation among Iraqis was held in Cairo in November. The talks were attended by high-level Iraqi government leaders, including the president and the prime minister, as well as leading Sunni opposition groups, among them the Association of Muslim Scholars and the National Dialogue Council. On November 21, at the end of the three-day meeting, the group called for the “withdrawal of foreign troops according to a timetable,” a position that satisfied an important demand of the Sunni opposition.

A crisis between Iraq and Kuwait over border demarcation was averted in the summer of 2005 as leaders of the two countries called for calm and restraint. Although top officials in Iraq and Iran exchanged visits, many Iraqis voiced concern over increased Iranian influence in Iraq, especially in the south. Relations with Syria deteriorated, with Iraqi officials accusing the country of tolerating the infiltration of foreign fighters into Iraq from Syria. In October and November, Iraqi and U.S. troops launched joint operations against suspected insurgents in western Iraqi towns near the Syrian border. These operations led to the killing or capture of hundreds of suspected insurgents.